On the way to Kara's ho.
The pitch-black SUV sped forward, and the phone of Reesi on the passenger seat suddenly rang. She pressed the answer button, and Mona's voice ca through:
"Agents, John has disappeared. I can't find him."
"What?"
Luo An, who was driving, remained expressionless, while Reesi frowned slightly upon hearing this:
"When did this happen? Where did he go missing?"
"Three minutes ago, on the road next to Los Angeles Airport."
Mona sounded sowhat annoyed on the other end of the phone:
"In the ti it took for a traffic light to change, John completely vanished from sight."
Reesi sighed:
"First the daughter goes missing, then the father disappears. Today's case is quite the commotion."
Luo An ignored Reesi's sentintality, grabbed the phone, and asked:
"Michelle, how is your investigation going?"
"Still working hard!"
"Good."
Luo An continued:
"Mona, while you continue to look for where John has gone, carefully investigate John's past employnt and his bank accounts to see if he has withdrawn any money recently."
"OK!"
After hanging up the phone and tossing it back to Reesi, Luo An floored the accelerator, and the pitch-black SUV picked up speed once again.
Five minutes later, at Kara's house.
"Good evening, Ms. Allen."
Entering the villa with Reesi, Luo An asked directly:
"Where is your ex-husband now?"
"My ex-husband? Are you talking about John?"
Madeline Allen was slightly startled, then quickly explained:
"He's on his way here."
As Madeline Allen spoke, Luo An observed her expressions and movents, noting that she wasn't lying; she truly believed that John was on his way here.
Reesi and Luo An exchanged glances, took Allen by the arm to sit down on the sofa, and said softly:
"Ms. Allen, according to our investigation, your ex-husband John has just gone missing. Do you know where he is most likely to go?"
"John has gone missing?!"
Madeline Allen's pupils shrank upon hearing this. She thought of sothing, but then her deanor cald down, and she shook her head:
"Impossible. He just called , said there was so traffic, but he would arrive here soon."
Seeing her reaction, Luo An's mouth twitched slightly, and without wasting any more ti, he asked directly:
"Ms. Allen, do you really think your ex-husband alone can bring your daughter back?"
Madeline Allen instinctively looked up at Luo An, saw his gaze, and quickly turned her head to look at Reesi:
"Sorry, Deputy Group Leader Greenwood, I don't understand what you an."
"No, you do understand. You just don't want to admit it."
Luo An sat down on the chair, his eyes fixed on Madeline Allen, and he said solemnly:
"We know John has promised to bring your daughter back, but have you ever considered a question:
The person who abducted your daughter is most likely not alone, but part of a group.
Does John really have the capacity to escape from a group of enemies with your daughter unscathed?
Moreover, the other party killed the nanny Samira to abduct your daughter. It's clear that they don't care about human life, you..."
"Enough!!"
As Luo An spoke, Madeline Allen began to tremble, and her eyes quickly reddened, suddenly shouting to stop Luo An from continuing, she said firmly:
"I believe in John."
Reesi's brows furrowed in anger at the sight, and just as she was about to speak, Luo An grasped her hand and then asked:
"Ms. Allen, are you certain?"
Madeline Allen didn't answer, her eyes involuntarily scanning from side to side. Clearly, she took to heart what Luo An had just said, but her ex-husband's confident assurances also made it impossible to ignore. Torn and undecided, she continued her internal struggle.
Luo An could understand Ms. Allen's ntality and actions out of concern for her daughter, but her current behavior was clearly hindering his handling of the case.
After a mont of thought, a glint of sharpness crossed Luo An's eyes as he pulled out his phone and said gravely:
"Under the Federal Child Protection Law's mandatory reporting requirents for child abuse and neglect, as well as the behavior of Mr. John and Ms. Allen in this case:
We now have sufficient reason to suspect Mr. John as the pri suspect in the kidnapping of Kara, and Ms. Allen has been deceived by him and is unable to make correct decisions that would ensure Kara's safety.
Given the situation, according to federal law, the FBI has the right to temporarily revoke Ms. Allen's lead role in this case, and subsequent actions will be based on FBI's judgnt!
Reesi! Issue a warrant imdiately for John Rodriguez! Have all law enforcent agencies in Los Angeles go full force to pursue John Rodriguez!"
"No problem!"
Understanding the look Luo An gave her, Reesi imdiately stood up from the sofa, loudly agreed, and took out her phone to make the call.
"No! You can't do this!"
Hearing Luo An's words and seeing Reesi's actions, Madeline Allen instantly panicked, hastily stood up, and shouted:
"You can't do this! You don't have the authority!"
Luo An spread his hands:
"Sorry, when the child's parents are unable to make the correct judgnt, federal law supports my action."
Federal law of '05 is still considered mild. If it were a decade or so later, so school teachers might encourage children to take dication or use physical ans to directly change their sex without notifying the parents. If parents then took the matter to court after finding out, the court might strip them of their custody rights.
The reason would be "gender discrimination" and "not knowing gender pronouns"...
Madeline Allen had no knowledge of such a fantastical future. She only knew that if Luo An truly issued a warrant against John now, the matter of her daughter's return would beco unpredictable.
"I really don't know where John is now!"
Staring at Luo An for a mont, Madeline Allen pleaded:
"Please, I really don't know where he is, I just want my daughter to return safely."
"Then please cooperate with us, Ms. Allen."
Luo An poured her a glass of water and handed it to her:
"Ti waits for no one, if we delay further, we don't know what might happen."
After a mont of silence, Madeline Allen said in a low voice:
"There's an area in the southern part of Los Angeles Airport, John used to have a house there, I don't know if it's still there."
Madeline Allen reveals that she secretly found out about this house back when she first married John, suspecting that he was cheating on her behind her back. John didn't know about this.
"Good."
Jotting down the specific location of the house on a piece of paper, Luo An signaled for the two female agents to stay put and imdiately left the villa with Reesi in his car.
Midway, Luo An took out his phone and called Mona:
"How's it going, did you find John?"
"Still trying."
Mona was furiously typing on her computer keyboard over the phone:
"I have an idea, just give a little more ti."
"OK, thanks for your hard work."
Hanging up the phone, Luo An drove the SUV briskly towards the house ntioned by Allen.
Ten minutes later, Luo An and Reesi arrived at a normal-looking neighborhood and found an even more ordinary-looking room.
"There's nobody in the room."
Approaching the room door from the left and right with guns at the ready, Luo An quickly ca to a decision, then swiftly entered the room with Reesi.
"It looks like it hasn't been lived in for a long ti."
Reesi swiped a layer of dust from the coffee table and put away her gun:
"It doesn't seem like anyone's been here either. Looks like we've got the wrong place."
"No"
Luo An looked at a painting hanging on the bathroom wall and laughed:
"We've found the right place."
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